New Mzuzu Catholic Bishop to be consecrated Saturday: Malawi President, VP to attend 

The consecration of the newly elected Bishop of Mzuzu diocese of the Catholic Church will take place on Saturday at St Peter’s Cathedral in Mzuzu.

Secretary General of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) Fr Dr Henry Saindi said the  ceremony will be presided over by Bishop Dr Martin Mtumbuka of the Karonga Diocese.

“We expect to have an exciting function which will be presided over by Bishop Mtumbuka as Principal consecrator and will be assisted by Archbishops Ziyaye of Lilongwe Archdiocese and Msusa of Blantyre Archdiocese,” said Saindi.

The function according to Saindi will be in Tumbuka, except the consecration part which is to be conducted in English.

“The mass will be in Tumbuka as you know that Fr Ryan stayed in the northern region for entire period he has been in Malawi and it is an honour to the people of the northern region.

“It is only the consecration part which is going to be in English because we expect the Bishop Elect’s relatives from Ireland to be here as well and people from across the country,” said Saindi.

His Holiness Pope Francis appointed Father John Ryan as the new Bishop of the diocese on April 26, 2016 in Rome.

The appointment of Fr Ryan followed the death of the then Bishop of the diocese Bishop Joseph Zuza who died in a car accident on January 2015 when he was travelling from his home village in Mzimba.

The death of Late Zuza left a vacancy in the diocese which has been running under the authority of a caretaker Monsignor Michael Muwowo who is the diocesan administrator for Mzuzu diocese.

Reverend Fr Ryan was born on 27th February, 1952 in Trippery, Ireland. He was ordained priest on 18th June, 1978.

He has served as a missionary in Malawi in several parishes in Mzuzu, Karonga and other parts of the northern region. He is currently serving as Chaplain of Mzuzu University where he is also a Lecturer of mathematics.

Some notable dignitaries to attend the function according to ECM, include President Professor Peter Mutharika, Vice President Dr Saulos Chilima, Apostolic Nuncio to Malawi and Zambia Julio Murrat, all bishops, cabinet ministers and government officials among others.